The Chocolate Bunnies
by greekgirl317
Summary: Travis always played pranks on the Demeter cabin to get Katie's attention. One day, a harmless prank takes a turn for the worse. It turns out; chocolate Easter bunnies can cause more destruction that Travis ever thought.
1. The Prank

This story has been in my head for a _long_ time, and it wouldn't let me work on my other story, so I wrote it down.

I hope you like it.

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><p>Chapter 1: The Prank<p>

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><p>Travis's POV<p>

I hurried towards the pavilion, the bitter wind chilling me through my dark jacket. I pulled the cords on my hood and ducked my head, trying to escape the cold. My shoes were already completely soaked from the wet grass.

When Connor and I had been planning this, we hadn't been expecting it to rain the _whole_ _day._

_It's summer,_ I thought. _Why is it so cold?_

I looked up and saw the familiar shadow of my brother sitting on the pavilion steps. I raised my hand and waved to get his attention, and Connor waved back. When I finally reached him, Connor had already pulled out the duffel bags we had left there behind a bush the night before.

"Dude," Connor whispered when he looked up and saw me. He held up the duffle bags. "We are _so_ lucky these are waterproof."

"I know," I agreed.

Most fathers give their son a signed baseball cap, or a ticket to a game for their birthday. On the morning of my birthday, I found two waterproof duffel bags at the end of my bed, with a note taped on one of them that said: _use it wisely_. I hadn't found a use for them until now.

A strong gust of wind suddenly blew my jacket open, and I shivered.

I looked up at the clouds above us—it looked like it was going to rain again. A sudden thought came to me—it wasn't _supposed_ to rain in Camp Half-Blood at all, unless the gods were angry—Zeus in particular. That didn't make me feel any better.

"Connor, I don't think this is a good idea," I whispered to my brother.

He stopped going through the duffel bags, and looked up at me, surprise and disbelief written on his face. "You're kidding, right? This was _your_ idea," He told me, crossing his arms.

"I know," I said impatiently. "But come on, Connor—it isn't supposed to rain here! Do you really want to mess with the Demeter cabin right now when their mother is probably already—?"

He held up his hand to stop me and shook his head. "You think Demeter did this?" He gestured at the sky. "It's most likely Zeus having a temper tantrum."

I looked up at the clouds. Usually, when someone insults the Lord of the Sky, their lives end pretty quickly.

"Well, you want to get Katie's attention, don't you?" Connor added.

I clamped my mouth shut as I felt my cheeks grow red. It was true, even though I denied it around the other campers. The only person that knew that I really did have a crush on Katie was my brother, Connor—well, the only person I would admit it to, anyway.

Connor was the only one that knew the real reason why we always pranked the Demeter cabin the most. Not because I thought it was funny, but because it was the only way that I could get Katie's attention.

"Yeah, but do you _really _think this'll work?" I asked, motioning to the duffle bags.

I was starting to regret ever coming up with this prank. A few weeks ago, it seemed like a great idea. Now, it looked impossible, and I was starting to see everything that could go wrong.

"Hey, first of all, this was your idea in the first place," He pointed out, irritation seeping into his voice.

"But—"

"And second, we already went over this, we'll be fine." He reassured me.

He picked up one of the duffel bags and tossed it at me before I could protest. I caught it with a groan.

Who knew that thirty chocolate Easter bunnies could weigh so much?

My brother was usually a pretty easy going guy, and he was already annoyed, so I knew that it wouldn't be good for my health if I pushed the issue. I sighed and pushed the strap of the duffel bag onto my shoulder.

"Okay, let's go," I told him.

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

Fifteen minutes later, Connor and I were crouched behind the Demeter cabin.

"Okay, we're here, what's the plan again?" Connor questioned, turning to look at me with some difficulty, since the heavy bag on his shoulder was throwing off his balance.

"Dude!" I whispered back, shaking my head. "How many times do we have to go over it? It has three steps! _Three steps!_"

"I'm just checking," Connor held up his hands. "Plus, you were the one that was so eager to do this last week when we were planning it."

I rolled my eyes. _Why did he have to keep bringing that up?_ "We use the vines on the side of the cabin to climb onto the roof…" I started.

"Then we put the chocolate bunnies on the roof…" Connor continued.

"And then get back to our cabin without making a sound," I finished, annoyed. "Was all that really necessary?"

"Yep," He told me with a smirk. Then he grabbed the vines above our heads and started to climb. I followed him with a sigh.

The only thing harder than carrying thirty chocolate bunnies up a makeshift ladder made of vines is trying to make them stand upright on a foot-thick grass roof.

"Oh, come on," Connor grumbled, as the bunny he was trying to put in the grass fell over for the tenth time.

Another thing about my brother: he's easygoing, but he has absolutely no patience whatsoever. It's the same with most of us demigods—because of our ADHD, we can't concentrate on one thing for too long, especially my brother. I always wondered how Athena kids can have the patience to plan out all the projects that they do. If my brother tried that, he would probably lose it.

I looked over at Connor, and grabbed his wrist to stop his over-aggressive attempt to keep the chocolate bunny standing. After a few minutes, we finally figured how to keep it up, and by the time we were done covering the roof with the rest of them, the sun was just starting to rise.

I nudged my brother's shoulder. "We need to go," I whispered frantically.

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

"Aw man," Connor sighed, when we were back in our own cabin.

I dropped my duffel bag on the floor and turned to look at my brother. "What?" I asked. "Did you leave something behind?"

He shook his head. "Na, nothing like that. It's just—we didn't even get to admire our handiwork."

I smiled and shook my head. "We can admire our handiwork tomorrow, and see everyone's reaction to it then."

Connor threw himself onto his bed, and buried his head in the pillow. "I never want to see another one of those _things_ again." He groaned, his voice muffled.

"What? A chocolate rabbit?" I asked shocked. My brother loved chocolate. I sat down on my bed, facing him. "It's chocolate! How could you say that you never want to see chocolate again?"

He turned his head towards me. "No, there's other types of chocolate, I just meant that I never want to see chocolate _shaped_ like that again."

I laughed. "I'll make sure that everyone in our cabin gives you a chocolate rabbit for Easter then."

"The thing is, I know you're not kidding." Connor groaned. "I hate you."

I laughed, leaning back on my pillow. "I know you do." I told him. I was silent for a moment before I realized something. "Hey Connor?"

He looked at me, his eyes half closed with sleep. "Yeah?"

"Do you think this'll get Katie's attention?" I asked, looking at the ceiling.

"Dude," Connor lifted himself up with his elbow. "If this doesn't get her attention, nothing will."

I didn't say anything. My eyes were heavy with sleep, and I could already hear my brother's loud snoring. _I just hope he's right,_ I thought, before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

The next morning, I woke to loud talking and yelling. At first, I thought it was two of my siblings fighting, then I realized the voices were coming from outside. That could only mean…

"Dude," I heard Connor whisper. "It worked."

I threw myself off my bed and started towards the door, Connor following right behind me. I was barely halfway to the door, when it flung open. Katie was standing in the doorway, hands at her hips, scowling at me. Chiron was right behind her, and he didn't look happy either.

"Travis," Katie said slowly, in a voice that made me back up, right into Connor. "Why is there over fifty chocolate Easter bunnies on my cabin roof?"

_Uh, oh._

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><p>So, that was the first chapter. I think it's good, much better than the first chapter on my first story. I would appreciate it if you let me know what you think, it helps me improve my writing. Thanks for reading.<p> 


	2. The Aftermath

Sorry about the long wait guys, but I just haven't had time to work on this lately. Today's the last day of summer break for me, so I just had to put this chapter up today.

If anyone is confused, this takes place sometime between BoTL and TLO.

Thanks to all the wonderful people who reviewed, put it on their favorites, and are following my story. Thanks to: Epicness by Liv, Rebellsong7, minimonster12345, and Lmb111514 for reviewing. Thank you!

Now, on with the story.

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><p>Chapter 2: The Aftermath<p>

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><p>Travis's POV<p>

The only thing that had stopped Katie from strangling me to death was Chiron, but the lecture he had given us afterwards almost made me wish Katie had killed me. _Almost._

He gave me and Connor five weeks of cleaning duty, and made us take the chocolate bunnies down from the roof of the Demeter cabin in front of the whole camp. This would have been an easy thing to do, if it hadn't been for the fact that the chocolate bunnies had melted into the grass.

So, almost four hours later, Connor and I hiked back to our cabin, covered in grass stains, bug bites, sweat, and melted chocolate.

The cabin was empty—everyone else was at the pavilion eating lunch. I wanted to go eat lunch with the rest of my cabin, have them clap me on the back, and congratulate me on a job well done.

Only it wasn't a job well done. Sure, I had gotten Katie's attention and all, but it wasn't the type of attention that I wanted. She had noticed me, but by the looks that she gave me as I washed chocolate off her cabin roof, she wasn't going to be sharing a moonlit stroll on the beach with _me_ anytime soon.

I sunk down on my bed, put my face in my hands, and groaned.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, you _did_ get Katie's attention," Connor pointed out, sitting down next to me.

"Yeah," I laughed humorlessly. "Just not the attention I wanted."

"Maybe if we just explain why we did it…" Connor trailed off when he saw the look on my face.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, _yeah,_ that'll go down _good_." I told him, sarcasm in my voice. I got up and pretended to walk over to Katie. " 'Hey Katie, the only reason I put chocolate bunnies on your roof was because I have a crush on you, so I thought that playing pranks on you would get your attention, and you'd realize how much you like me and agree to go out with me.' "

"Dude," Connor looked at me. "Did you really think that that was going to happen?"

"Yeah, a week ago," I admitted, crossing my arms. I glared at him. "But _nobody _told me that it was hopeless, so I just kept hoping it would work."

He held up his hands. "Well I didn't know you were_ that_ desperate." He defended.

"You're my brother, you're supposed to know these things. _And_ you knew why I always pranked her, so why didn't you stop me?" I asked him.

Connor shrugged. "Well, hey, I thought you were just trying to get her attention, that's all," He told me. "I knew you wanted to ask her out, but I didn't know that this was the way you were planning on doing it. Usually, when you want to ask someone out, you aim low. You know, give them flowers first, or something like that."

I blinked in surprise, and uncrossed my arms. "Since when did _you_ become the expert on dating?" I asked.

Surprisingly, he blushed. "We sit across from the Aphrodite cabin, and it's not like they whisper or anything." He explained, scratching the back of his head.

"You picked up dating advice from the Aphrodite cabin?" I said, trying not to laugh.

His face was bright red in embarrassment. "Yeah," He said, then suddenly dropped his hand and looked up at me, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

_Uh, oh._ I thought, because the look that he had on his face was the one he usually has when he's planning a prank. I looked at my brother warily. "What?" I asked.

Connor's smile grew. "I have an idea…"

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

"This is a _terrible_ idea," I told Connor.

We were sitting in the Aphrodite cabin, surrounded by bright blue, green, and pink…well, everything. It felt like I was sitting in a little girl's doll house.

"It was the best I could think of," Connor shrugged sheepishly.

I rolled my eyes, and glared at my brother. "Well, no offense, but your best sucks."

"It seemed like a good idea, and I just wanted to help," He sighed.

"That's also what I thought about the prank on the Demeter cabin a few weeks ago, and look how _that_ ended." I pointed out.

"This is different though," He argued.

I shook my head hopelessly. "No, it's not. How will a child of Aphrodite help me? How will they help me dig myself out of the hole I already buried myself in, huh? What good will it do me now?"

"Well, it can't hurt to at least try," Connor said. "And besides, you can't mess up more than you already have, right?"

I scowled at my brother. I was doing that a lot today. "Thanks, that makes me feel so much better." I said sarcastically.

"No problem." He smirked.

I looked down, rubbing at my eyes. The designer perfume in the air was so strong, it was making my eyes water.

"I was wondering when I would see you in here." I heard someone say. "Boy, you really messed up, didn't you?" I looked up—it was Mitchell, son of Aphrodite. Silena Beauregard was right behind him, shaking her head.

"Yeah, you can say that," I mumbled. The Aphrodite cabin had come in from lunch now, and they were all copying Silena—looking at me and shaking their heads. Somehow, it didn't surprise me that they knew what was going on.

Mitchell grabbed a stool and sat down in front of me and Connor. "You know, you should have come to us first. Would've saved you from all that." He pointed out the window to the Big House.

"Yeah, _I know_." I gritted my teeth. I didn't need _him_ to tell me the obvious—I had my brother for that.

Mitchell made a 'shooing' motion at his siblings. They all got up and moved towards the door like he had pushed them. Silena was the last one out.

"Rule number one: to capture a girl's attention, you give the girl chocolates, or flowers, or both," Mitchell started. I glanced at my brother. "And no, putting chocolate Easter bunnies on her cabin roof doesn't count." He added, looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

"I get it, I know that now. Don't tell me what I already know!" I snapped. "If you're not going to help me, then just forget it. You can't me help anyway—I don't even know why I'm here," I started to get up, but Mitchell held up his hand up to stop me.

"I _am_ going to help you, I mean, I'll try my best," He assured me. "But you're going to have to work with me, even though I can tell you don't want to."

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

Two hours later, Connor and I were in the Big House kitchen washing dishes in a sink full of lava.

The weirdest thing was, even though I would have kitchen patrol for a month, I felt optimistic. I mean—it's not like I was looking forward to scrubbing dishes for a whole month, but Mitchell had had some pretty good ideas.

I used to think that all the Aphrodite kids did was gossip and do their hair, but now I was starting to think that I had underestimated them. Everyone underestimated them, I realized, but maybe that was what they wanted.

"Hey, Travis!" Someone called my name, making me jump and drop the plate that I had been holding. It shattered when it hit the floor.

I looked up. It was Michael Yew from the Apollo cabin. "What?" I asked, a little more sharply than I had intended.

He winced, and bent down next to me to pick up the broken plate. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just didn't know you guys would have kitchen duty today, that's all."

"Chiron thought it would be a good punishment," Connor told him. Then he added, "But we get cleaning and trash duty along with this tomorrow, so I guess we'll just have to enjoy just this while it lasts."

Michael laughed.

"What did you do to end up here?" I asked him as he got up.

"It was the Apollo cabin's turn for cleaning duty, and we got the lowest score on the inspection." He told me, dumping the remnants of the plate in the trashcan.

I raised my eyebrows. It was usually my cabin who came in last on inspection. Mostly because we had the most demigods—most of them weren't even children of Hermes—and because my siblings liked to use the space under their beds as their own personal trashcan.

Michael saw my expression and grinned. "Yeah, it's usually you guys who are the worst."

"Not all the time," Connor defended.

Michael's grin grew. "So, your prank didn't go too well last night, huh?" He asked. "You should have heard Katie," He laughed, then looked serious. "I don't think you should go up to the pavilion anytime soon to eat, she might kill you. In fact, the whole Demeter cabin might kill you. I could tell one of your brothers to bring you food or something."

"Yeah, thanks," I told him, turning back to wash the dishes. The happy, hopeful bubble that had been growing inside my chest since the visit to the Aphrodite cabin had burst.

As soon as he left, Connor nudged me with his elbow. "Hey, it'll work out," He reassured me. I gave him a look. "_It will_, but I think you should give her a few days to calm down before you try to apologize." Then he grinned. "That way, it'll be less likely that we'll have to make you a shroud."

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

I sat down on my bed and laid back, closing my eyes. Boy, it had been a _long_ day.

I thought back to what Connor had said earlier, and my little bubble of hope started to come back. Maybe he was right, maybe there was still a chance that I could get Katie to forgive me.

I had to be patient, though. I had to give it time and maybe, just maybe, it would work this time. Until then, I just had to wait and see.

* * *

><p>So, that was longer than the last chapter, but not much. If anyone is still confused, this takes place sometime between BoTL and TLO, so Michael Yew and Silena Beauregard are still alive, and Mitchell is from the Lost Hero.<p>

Please let me know what you thought, and thanks for reading! :)


	3. Words are Weapons

Sorry for the long wait, again. Yeah, I'm really bad at updating, I know. I just haven't really made time to sit down and work on this. I even had fall break to work on it, so I don't have any excuses.

A big thank you to: Epicness by Liv, Lmb111514, catsrawesome, and ChocolateSodaPop for reviewing! And to the people who also favorited/followed this story, a thank you to you too! :)

Now, on to the story!

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><p>Chapter 3: Words are Weapons<p>

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><p>Travis's POV<p>

I opened my eyes slowly. Sunlight was shining brightly through the window between me and my brother's bed.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes, and groaned when I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. I had washed more than a hundred dishes yesterday, and I was starting to feel the effects of it. _And five more weeks of this to go,_ I thought. _Joy._

"Dude," I heard Connor groan into his pillow. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck."

"I know," I told him, rubbing at the knot in my arm, trying to get the painful, tingling feeling to go away.

I turned away from him, and nearly jumped out of the bed in fear. Michael was standing at the foot of my bed. "Dude! Don't _do_ that!" I shouted. "How long have you been there?"

He flashed me a bright white smile—which made me want to kick him—and shrugged. "Only for a few minutes. I brought you breakfast," He told me, holding out a large plate full of food.

I was too hungry to complain. "Thanks," I said, my mouth watering.

It was kind of ironic, really. Not even a week before, I was doing everything possible to be closer to Katie. Sometimes, I even traded cleaning duties and privileges with other cabins just so my cabin would have the same classes as hers.

Now, I was trying to do the exact opposite. I didn't really have a choice though—it was either stay away from her, or get killed. And since I valued my life, I chose to stay away.

"You would make a great stalker," Connor told Michael. In retaliation, he threw a breakfast roll at Connor's head. It bounced off, rolled under Connor's bed, and Connor dove after it. "Five second rule!" he shouted.

Michael rolled his eyes. "Ugh," He groaned. "That's _disgusting!_"

I laughed and shook my head. He looked at me, confused. "This is Connor you're talking about. That's _normal_ for him," I told him.

Michael opened his mouth as if to say something, closed it, shrugged in defeat, and sat down on my bed. "You have a point." He admitted.

Connor stood up, the muffin in his hand. He frowned at us. "Hey! I'm not disgusting, just conservative. Why let perfectly good food go to waste when you could eat it?" He smirked, before biting into it to prove his point.

I rolled my eyes and smirked. "Okay, but when you get sick because of it, I'm not gonna help you. I'll leave that to the healers," I told him, jabbing my thumb at Michael.

"Thanks," Michael said sarcastically.

"No problem."

Connor frowned at me, his muffin now forgotten. "What makes you think that I'll get sick?" He asked.

"Dude, have you _seen_ the underside of your bed?" I raised my eyebrows.

Before he could say anything back, Michael held up his hands to stop us. "Guys, as entertaining as it is to make fun of Connor—"

"Hey!"

Michael's lips twitched up slightly, but he continued as if Connor hadn't said anything. "The real reason I came here is that we need to figure out what Travis is going to do. It may seem like a good idea to just avoid Katie now, but Chiron is changing the class schedules in a few days, which means it's very likely that you'll end up in the same group as hers."

My carefree mood was immediately replaced with the feeling of a dead weight in the middle of my stomach. Suddenly, I wasn't hungry anymore. I pushed the plate of food away from me.

When Connor and I had come back from the kitchen last night, our siblings had crowded around us asking questions. Usually, I would have welcomed all the attention, I would have loved for it to be talked about for weeks to come, like it usually did. But I didn't want be reminded of my "success," because really, it was far from one. I just wanted to put it in the past and try to fix the mess that it had made.

That wasn't possible now.

Michael looked at me out of the corner of his eye, saw my expression, and grimaced. "Sorry, it's just—"

I held up a hand to stop him. "It's fine," I sighed. "It's not like I can just act like it never happened. I need to figure out what to do."

He looked thoughtful. "I was thinking that you could just apologize. If you're really sincere about it, she might take you seriously."

Connor snorted. "Yeah, _if_ she takes us seriously. And if she doesn't, then we'll have to run like Hades is after us."

We were all silent as we realized the truth in that statement.

It was Connor who finally broke the silence. "Well, we have to do _something_," he pointed out, suddenly serious. Then he turned to me. "You could just avoid her, you know, keep your head down at the classes and not draw attention to yourself. And if she does notice you, I think Michael's idea is the only option left."

"That doesn't make me feel any better." I told him, stuffing my hands in my pockets.

"I know, but it's the best chance you have."

_If that's the best chance I have to get Katie not to hate me,_ I thought, _then I'm doomed._

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

I could feel the early morning sun burning my eyelids as I laid back on my bed, but I didn't care. The pain it caused couldn't possibly be worse than the dread that had twisted my stomach into knots.

Michael had been right—Chiron had changed the schedules. And of course with my luck, he had also been right about me and Katie having the same classes. I had spent the last four days going over all the different scenarios in my head that could happen when I saw Katie again. Nearly all of them ending with me dead or in the hospital.

Today had come way too fast.

I opened my eyes slowly, and groaned as my vision turned white. _I have to ask Chiron for a better shade for that window,_ I thought, rubbing at my eyes, annoyed. _So I'm not blinded every time I wake up._

When I finally adjusted to the brightness, I looked around and with a jolt realized I was the only one there. Not even Connor was there anymore. My sisters and brothers _never_ woke up early, unless…

I glanced at the clock, and bolted out of bed. I was five minutes late! _I'm gonna kill him,_ I thought. How many times had Connor overslept and I woke him up so he wouldn't be late? More than I could remember.

Muttering curses under my breath at him, I pulled my clothes on quickly, and raced towards the gardens.

When I got there, Chiron was standing in the middle of the garden, facing away from me, so maybe he wouldn't notice me. I walked into the crowd casually, trying to blend in with the others.

Of course, it didn't work. "Now, once you have done that, you can—ah Travis, you've finally joined us." Chiron glanced at me, frowning. He didn't look mad, just disappointed.

I looked down, not meeting his eyes. I had already gotten in trouble for the chocolate bunnies, and now I couldn't even bother to get to his class on time. I had let him down. I hated disappointing him. He expected us to do our best—he wanted us to do our best—and if we didn't, he would give us that sad look. I would've rather had him be angry at me.

Chiron sighed and walked up to me. "I will give you a warning for now. But please, Travis, try to be on time from now on."

I still didn't look directly at him as I nodded. "Yes sir."

He stood there for a while, then I sensed instead of saw him nod his head. When he finally walked away, I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

"Man that was close, I thought you were gonna to get in trouble for a second there." Connor let out a low whistle from next to me, startling me. When did he get there?

"Yeah, I would've been here on time if _someone_ had woken me up." I glared at him.

Connor's eyes widened, and he held up his hands. "I thought you needed the sleep, so I set the alarm clock. It didn't work?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, I just decided to be late. 'Cause it's not like I'm in trouble already," I said sarcastically.

I heard Michael snicker from where he was sitting a few feet away in the tomato patch, watching us. He waved at us to join him, and we did.

Connor shot him a look when we knelt next to him. "You're not supposed to take his side!"

Michael handed us both packets of seed. "Then what side am I supposed to take?" He asked Connor, smiling.

I rolled my eyes, ignoring Connor's reply, and looked over his head. My eyes landed on Katie.

She was on the other side of the garden with her siblings, smiling and laughing. She looked so carefree and happy with them, and I wished that one day she could be that carefree and happy when she was around me. I wished that I could make her smile like that.

I knew that no matter how long I was going to avoid her I could never forget the way her wavy brown hair always fell over her right shoulder, how her soft brown eyes twinkled when she laughed and the little dimples that showed only when she smiled.

I also couldn't forget the fact that she was walking towards me now, her brown eyes narrowed, with a gardening spade in her hand.

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

I did what any smart person would do in that situation: I ran.

As I passed the others on the way out of the gate, I heard them call out to me: "Oh, man! Dead man walking!" or "We'll make a shroud for you!" One of them even called out: "Run, Forest, run!"

If I was in any other situation, I would have turned around. I would have been mad. But when your options are either: A) turn around and get killed by a very angry girl armed with gardening tools, or B) to keep running, you'd keep running too.

If it hadn't been for the fact that I had been on kitchen duty for the last few days, I could've outran her. Instead five minutes later, as I reached the field where the cabins were, a sudden pain surged through my whole body, starting at my shoulders. The pain was so strong, it cut off my breathing completely and I fell to my knees.

It was not long after that that I heard footsteps approaching me. I knew it was Katie. "Please, I'm sorry," I whimpered, gasping for a breath. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I didn't know how much she had heard, but I hoped she would hear me out.

I looked up. I couldn't see Katie clearly through the black spots that danced in front of my eyes, but I could just see her outline, standing a few feet in front of me. She didn't say anything, and she didn't make any move to hit me as I recovered from the pain. I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

I stumbled to my feet and finally looked directly at Katie. Her head was down, and her hair covered her eyes so I couldn't see her expression. There was streaks of dirt on her left cheek and her shirt, but it didn't make her look bad. Actually, it was quite the opposite.

To me, it showed that she didn't care what other people thought about her and that she only wanted to be herself, her true self. She didn't want to hide who she was from others, she wanted to embrace it, not hide under makeup or a false identity. That's what I liked most about her: how comfortable she was with herself.

That's when I realized that I had been staring at her for too long.

Katie crossed her arms defensively and glared at me. "What? What are you looking at? Some way to pull another prank on me? Don't even try Travis, because I'm sick of your tricks!" There was something in the tone of her voice that left me at a loss for words. Was she..._crying?_

Katie looked up at me, with red eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks.

That's when the true impact of my prank hit me. I had thought that I could just apologize to her after a few days, and that she would just forgive me. I had underestimated how it would affect her. This had crossed the line. I had really done it this time.

_Oh, gods. What have I done? _I thought, my eyes widening in horror. _What have I done?_

"Katie, I'm so sorry, I—"

"What is it with you? Why do you do this all the time, huh?" Katie's voice broke as she looked at me with glassy eyes. "Why do you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you? All I have ever been is nice to you, or—or at least tried to be. And in return, all you are is hateful to me!"

I flinched, like I had been slapped. In fact, I would've liked to have been slapped instead. The words that she had just said were so much worse than a slap.

"K-Katie," I stuttered, trying to find words. "That's not why I did those things! It's, it's—"

"Oh, really?" Katie wiped angrily at her eyes. "If the reason isn't that you hate me, then what is it?"

I was at a loss for words. What was I supposed to say, that I did it because I was trying to get her attention, that I had a crush on her? She wouldn't believe me.

Katie took my silence as an answer. She rolled her eyes and let out a shaky laugh. "You know, I don't even know why I'm crying. I shouldn't be surprised, really. Do you ever think of anyone besides yourself? Do you ever think about how others feel when you prank them, or do you just point and laugh? Do you ever think about how _I _feel?"

I had to try to explain it to her. I reached out and touched her shoulder as she turned to walk away. "No Katie, please wait—"

Katie recoiled from my touch as if I were poison. "Leave me alone, Travis. I don't want to be around someone as selfish as you. I thought maybe you were different—that you could change—but here you are, just trying to save yourself again. Apparently I was wrong."

With that, she turned around and walked away. This time, I didn't try to stop her. I just stood there and watched as she walked the rest of the way to her cabin and slammed the door behind her, not looking back once.

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

I sighed as my head hit the pillow. It was after midnight, but I had no intention of going to sleep. The thoughts running through my head were keeping me wide awake.

Katie thought I hated her, which was the complete opposite of how I truly felt. Did she really mean what she had said, or was she just angry? Was that all she saw me as—a bully, someone who pranked people just for the fun at laughing at them? What if that was all I was?

I rolled over on my back and stared at the ceiling. I mean, I had a purpose to prank the Demeter cabin, but what about all the other people that I had ever pulled a prank on? Didn't I laugh, didn't I talk about them with my sisters and brothers? Did _they _see me as a bully?

I groaned loudly into my pillow. Whoever said that words couldn't hurt had no idea what they were talking about.

All I knew for sure was that I had really messed up, even more than I thought I had. Everything Michael, Connor, and the Aphrodite kids had told me definitely wasn't going to work now. There was no way I was going to get her to forgive me with what they told me to do. The only thing I could do now was to do nothing at all.

It would take a long time, and I would have to be patient, but if it got Katie to like me, then I would do it. No matter how it long it took.

* * *

><p>Sorry again for disappearing for almost three months, but life got in the way.<p>

Anyway, I just realized that I might need to change the rating to T in later chapters because it's going to include the Titan War. I mean, I'm not going to have graphic details or anything, but it's just a fair warning.

If you have time, please let me know what you thought of this chapter. Thanks for reading!


	4. Change of heart

Hello again! I'm back! Happy holidays!

So my timeline for this story was really off, and I realized this after I finished it and let my friend read it. She pointed out that this probably started around Easter, and The Last Olympian starts in early August, so the way I had it didn't work out.

So…two months later, here I am, finally finished.

Thanks to: spiesareawesome (guest), Photography Bird, SaberComet and to those who followed/favorited this story. Sorry again guys, for the slow update. I really do appreciate your reviews, even if it doesn't seem like it. And thank you to SaberComet for the suggestion, it helped!

And I keep forgetting this:

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan does.

* * *

><p><span>Katie<span>

A soft wind blew the scent of fresh soil and flowers over me, and I sighed deeply. My body relaxed and I finally unclenched my hands—the gardens always calmed me down.

Before I came to Camp Half Blood, I was always the shy, quiet one that everyone always forgot. And then I showed up here and Travis started pranking me almost instantly, and it felt good to be noticed for once.

He and his brother seemed to find it funny to prank me any way possible. I had found it endearing at first, possibly a little cute—which I would never admit to anyone, ever—but then his constant pranking started getting annoying and sometimes, a little frightening. It went from little petty things like teasing me and turning off the lights in my cabin to putting shaving cream in our beds, Kool-Aid in the shower, or powder in the hair dryer. With a shiver I remembered the time when I went to lie down in my bed and found thousands of worms under my sheets.

Those chocolate rabbits were the last straw.

It was about a week ago that I had woken up to find the top of my cabin roof covered by melted chocolate, and I still couldn't look at the Stoll brothers—especially Travis—without feeling like I wanted to punch them. And I'm normally not a violent person…except when it comes to those two.

But what happened earlier today was a completely different story.

When I had seen Travis sitting with his brother in the garden, _my garden_, like nothing had happened, I snapped. He had seen me coming right away and, of course, he had ran. Although, now that I look back at it, it might have had something to do with the spade I had in my hand at the time.

When I had finally caught up to him, I wasn't surprised that the first words out of his mouth were, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I had been expecting it, though. If I hadn't been there alone with him, or if his brother had been there too, he wouldn't had said that. He would have bragged, and shown off, and told me how it was just a joke and I needed to "lighten up."

But then again, when I asked him, "Why do you hate me so much?" His reaction was not what I expected at all. He seemed genuinely surprised and hurt. But what did he expect? Did he really expect me to forgive him? Did he expect for me to believe that he was truly sorry, after all the other countless times he had apologized to me? I had also given him the chance to explain why he did these things to me more than others, but he had said nothing. That spoke for itself, right?

Yes, I was right in what I did. I _had_ to be right. I couldn't afford to be wrong again, to give him yet another chance. But I still couldn't get the look he had on his face out of my mind.

I looked down at the ground, fighting the tears gathering at the edges of my eyes. _Why can't anything be easy with him? Why can't we be friends? Why can't he just tell me why he pranks me?_

And now I don't think I'll never know.

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

_*Two Weeks Later*_

Travis

When I finished drying the last of the dishes, I immediately pulled off the uncomfortable kitchen gloves and threw them in the trash beside me. Then I turned to face my brother, leaning on the counter with a sigh.

Connor was sitting a few feet away on a stool. "What is it?" I asked him. At his questioning look I added, "You been looking at me like you want to ask me a question all day. Ask it."

He looked down at his feet. "So…what's the plan?"

"What plan?" I honestly had no idea what he was talking about.

He sighed, crossed the room and dumped silverware into one of the drawers next to me before meeting my eyes. "Look, I don't mean to make you upset or anything. It's just—I mean, I've noticed—that you haven't talked about Katie for _weeks._ That is so not like you. What's up?"

I rolled my eyes. _Why does he have to bring that up now? _I thought.

"What is there to say?" I told him, some of my annoyance seeping into my voice against my will.

"Oh, I don't know," He replied sarcastically. "She tells you that she hates you, and you just give up? Just like that? Yeah, right." He paused and when he spoke again, the sarcastic edge had left his voice. "Before all this, you would have been chasing her down again. So what happened? What happened that made you change your mind? I'm your _brother_, you can tell _me_."

I unclenched my jaw and looked at him. He looked sincerely worried now, and I bit back a smile. I was so teasing him about that later. "I didn't _give up_," I reassured him. "I realized that the way I was getting her attention wasn't exactly screaming 'I like you!' you know?"

"I bet that trip to the Aphrodite cabin gave you that idea, huh?" Michael pointed out suddenly from the doorway, making both me and Connor jump slightly.

"Gods! You really need to stop doing that!" I told him, before a sudden realization dawned on me. "Wait, how do you know about the Aphrodite cabin?" I asked him.

He didn't need to answer: His toothy grin and Connor's sudden reluctance to look at me spoke for itself.

I turned towards my brother. "You jerk!" I said indignantly. Then I saw the perfect opening for a joke. "And here I thought you actually cared about my feelings." I huffed and crossed my arms, holding back another smile.

He didn't catch on. "Well we were talking about what you were going to do about Katie, and it just slipped. I'm—" He stopped and shook his head, smiling.

I couldn't help it. I started to laugh. "Come on, say it."

"No."

"Say it."

"No."

"Come on, tell your big brother you're sorry." I nudged his shoulder with my own. Michael was shaking violently with silent laughter nearby.

"No!" Connor snorted pulling away from me. His expression turned serious again. "So what _are_ you going to do?"

My smile left as quickly as it had come. I rubbed the back of my head, thinking of the best way to answer his question. "I was thinking that if I didn't do anything it would just go away after time, you know? I thought maybe if we stopped pranking her cabin that maybe she would—I don't know—notice that I really am sorry, or—"

Michael pulled the stool over to him and sat down. "Or what? You already tried to ignore her, and look how well _that_ worked." He pointed out.

"You could always do what the Aphrodite cabin said and give her chocolates," Connor suggested with a shrug.

"This whole thing started because of chocolate!" I told him, exasperated. "I don't really think that showing up at her cabin door with more chocolate is going to help anything. She'll probably just think it's another prank and throw them in my face or something."

"Or something," Michael repeated. Then he added, "Whatever you decide to do, I really think you should avoid Katie as best as you can now. At least for a while, until she cools down completely."

I sighed and rolled my eyes, throwing my hands up to show my frustration. "I already tried that! And you just told me it wasn't gonna work!"

"Well, try harder then."

"Thanks, that _great_ advice," I told him, annoyed and frustrated.

"Well, it's all I can tell you." Michael shrugged, giving me a look of sympathy. "I'm not an expert on girls, and Connor here isn't exactly famous in that department, either."

"Yeah," Connor agreed, and then realized that he had just been insulted. "Hey! I'll have you know, I'm checked out by the Aphrodite girls every time I pass them."

I rolled my eyes. "They're not checking you out, they're laughing at you."

Connor shot me a look, but before he could say anything, one of Michael's sisters stuck her head in the door. "It's time for lunch, guys. Let's go."

As we headed for the door, I put out my arm to stop Connor as I realized something. "You _didn't _tell anyone else did you? You didn't tell our _cabin_ did you?"

"No…" He answered, a sly grin slowly spreading across his face. "But thanks for the idea though."

I shook my head and glared at him. "If you dare…"

"Perfect payback." He laughed, and ran away as I made to grab his shirt. I chased him out the door and up Half-Blood Hill, Michael and his sister following behind us.

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

"Ewww, I'm trying to eat here! Could you, like, stop? That's _so_ disgusting." One of the Aphrodite girls at the table next to us huffed.

One of my half-brothers, Mark, had been making fart noises with his armpit. He turned and glared at her. "I'm not gonna stop, Rebecca. 'Cause I'm a barbarian!" He stood up and started pounding his chest.

Our table and Apollo's erupted in laughter. Everyone else either snickered or rolled their eyes. Even some of the Aphrodite table were laughing at their sister's expense. Rebecca let out a dramatic sigh and flicked her blond braid over her shoulder.

I glanced over at Katie, and my stomach dropped as I saw her expression. She had her arms crossed, scowling and shaking her head at our table. She looked over at me and our eyes met, just for a second, and she looked away.

I turned back around and stared at my plate, my appetite gone.

Connor turned towards me laughing and then saw my expression. "What?" He asked, frowning. "Katie?"

"Yeah," I sighed, not daring to look back at her.

"Hey," Connor nudged my shoulder. "I know what will take your mind off of her."

I looked up at him and saw his smirk. I didn't want to admit it, but that alone made me feel slightly better. "What?"

Connor leaned towards me and whispered, "Do you want to know what our awesome siblings did for us? They got sodas and pizza back at the cabin for us. You know, unhealthy delicious pizza," He pointed down at his plate. "Not fat-free, all natural flavorless pizza."

I smirked. It was against the rules to bring any soda or food from outside the camp, but our cabin did it all the time. I mean, a person can survive only for so long on fat-free food. I _needed_ some greasy food.

My thoughts were interrupted with the sound of Chiron clearing his throat. Everyone around me fell silent and looked at him.

Mark's eyes widened in horror, which didn't go unnoticed by Chiron.

"Don't worry, this isn't about what is and isn't…uh, lunch appropriate." He reassured, smiling fleetingly. Then his expression became serious again. "This is something to do with Kronos."

As he said his name, the air around us instantly became colder. My smirk slid off my face, and Connor started shivering next to me.

"It is an urgent matter that needs to be dealt with, but not at this moment." Chiron continued. "That is why I have planned an emergency meeting for the senior counselors later this evening. I am sorry for the sudden notice, but it is mandatory that you attend."

"What's going on? If it's serious, then shouldn't we have an emergency meeting now?" One of Katie's sisters called out. Everyone glanced at her, and then back at Chiron, waiting for his answer.

"Yes, I have a reason for—" Chiron's reply was cut off when a satyr ran up to him, and handed him a note. As Chiron read it, his face went from gray to white in a manner of seconds.

He looked up at us and cleared his throat. "I have something important to attend to now. I will expect you all at the meeting tonight at five, and we will talk then. You have five more minutes to eat." With that he turned away and walked quickly towards the Big House.

It was silent for a few minutes as we let what we had just heard sink in, and then the pavilion seemed to explode with sound.

"He tells us about something _this _important," one of the Ares kids shouted indignantly, pounding the table for effects. "And he expects us to wait _five hours_ for him to tell us what it is?"

Michael snorted. The whole Ares table turned and glared at him. "Got something to say, midget?" The one who spoke before sneered.

Michael's eyes narrowed slightly, but apart from that he didn't acknowledge the insult. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "What are you going to do, create an uprising? Storm up to the Big House and demand that Chiron tell us now? Whatever he's going to tell us is important and I want to hear what he has to say, but we have to wait, okay?"

I nodded in agreement. Whatever it was, we had to wait until later. Truthfully, I didn't think my stomach could handle any more bad news right now.

"I agree with Michael," I said, regretting it instantly as everyone looked at me. Now I _really _felt like throwing up. "We wait until the meeting, that's all."

"How serious do you think he was?" Katie's sister spoke up again.

"Well," Rebecca drawled, snapping her gum. "He was talking about the Titans, so…"

"Gee, Rebecca," Katie interrupted, her voice thick with sarcasm. "We didn't already know that, thanks."

I bit back a laugh. Before Rebecca could say anything or anyone could ask any more questions, the conch horn sounded.

The walk back to the cabins was a lot more subdued than it usually was, more people choosing to walk alone instead of with their friends.

"Saved by the bell," Connor whispered and nudged my shoulder. "Well, technically, horn—no, shell." He sighed and waved his hand. "You know what? Forget it."

"Don't worry, I already did," I assured him, and laughed when I saw his scowl.

As I sat down on my bed, all I was thinking about was how that shell had done the opposite of saving me. In fact, it had brought me closer to the meeting that I was now dreading. I had agreed with Michael at the time because I thought it was the safe thing to do, but now I realized it gave me five more hours to think about what exactly we were going to talk about in that meeting.

I didn't know what to expect. Would Chiron give us good news? Would he say that the gods had figured out a way to strengthen Typhon's prison under Mount St. Helens? Not likely. No, it was much more likely that he would tell us that Typhon and Kronos had grown stronger. And now I had to wait to find out.

I didn't know what was worse: finding out what was going on with Kronos now, or waiting. I had to wait for Katie to forgive me about the chocolate, I had to wait to tell her how I felt, and now this.

I really hated waiting.

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

Dread filled me when I walked in the rec room and saw all the senior counselors gathered around the ping pong table. I still didn't know why we had picked this place for our meetings, but it had been the war headquarters for the camp ever since last year.

As I took my seat next to Connor at the table, I looked around at the others. They all seemed as nervous as I was.

None of the children of the Big Three were here: Thalia was a hunter of Artemis now, Nico was gods knows where, and Percy Jackson was at school.

Now that I thought about it, I wondered what Katie was still doing here—she wasn't a year rounder, and spring break had ended last week. Was she staying because of the problems with Kronos or was she having problems with her father? I wanted to ask, but I was probably the last person she would trust with her personal problems. That just made me feel worse.

Before I could beat myself up internally again, Chiron walked in the door.

Not for the first time, I thought how it sucked that since he was a centaur he could never really sit down. When he pretending to be human he would be in a wheelchair, but that didn't really count because his legs were just folded up in there. I could _never_ stand up that long.

I shook my head, hard, to clear my thoughts. Whenever I was nervous, my ADHD brain seemed to come up with the most random thoughts to distract me. That's why I could never finish a test when I used to go to school.

Chiron cleared his throat to get our attention. "As you know," He began. "Typhon has grown very powerful since last year, and is threating to escape from his prison. Also, Oceanus had sided with Kronos and has declared war on Poseidon."

With that, I glanced over at the empty seat next to him where Percy usually sat. I wondered who would tell him about his father, or if he already knew. I hoped he knew, because it didn't feel right to know about it before he did.

"And on top of that," Chiron said. "I have news that Kronos has organized his army on board his ship, the _Princess Andromeda. _If Typhon escapes, he will distract us from Kronos, and then they will be able to attack us from both sides. They will have us surrounded."

"And it is only a matter of time before Typhon is freed." He continued, looking around at all of us. "And when he does, the gods will try to hold him back. But Typhon is one of their strongest enemies and it will not be an easy task. So that will leave us to fight Kronos ourselves."

Now everyone was looking at him with varying degrees of horror or disbelief.

What was going to happen now? Were we really about to go to war against Kronos without the gods help?

"You want us to fight _alone_? Without help from the gods?" Connor asked incredulously, voicing my thoughts. I guess that's why everyone thinks we're twins.

"Yes," Chiron sighed. "I know that seems impossible, but we cannot stand idly by while Kronos walks straight into New York and takes Olympus, can we?"

He had a point.

"Well, what's the plan then? What should we do?" Annabeth asked, standing up.

It didn't surprise me that she was the one asking that question—Athena was best known for strategy. But it _did_ surprise me that she didn't already have a plan made. She usually found out about things long before we did.

Everyone else seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because they all turned and looked at her expectantly.

"That's why I called this meeting so I could bring you up to date," Chiron told her, bringing everyone's attention back to him. "And so that we could talk about our plans."

"How long have you known about this?" Clarisse demanded. I was surprised she hadn't spoken up until now. Usually she would want her opinion to be heard first.

"Not long," He said, glancing at her. "I would not hold this kind of information from you. I know it seems like short notice, but Kronos is good at covering up his plans. I told you as soon as I could."

"Not everyone is here though," Connor pointed out. "Half the camp is gone right now. How are we supposed to fight hundreds of monsters when there are only thirty of us?"

"I realized that," Chiron nodded. "So I sent satyrs out to inform the summer campers, while we strategize the best way to delay Kronos for as long as possible. But now is not the time for that just yet," He added, looking sympathetic. "I don't want to overload you all at once, so I will let you go back to your cabins now. We will talk later."

Nobody objected as we followed Chiron silently out the door. I think it's because we were all still trying to let it sink in.

* * *

><p>*TCB*<p>

On the way back to our cabin, the conch horn sounded again, and Connor and I waited until all our siblings were gone before we went inside.

I collapsed on my bed with a sigh. I was tired, but there was no way I was going to fall asleep now.

"Delay Kronos for as long as possible,"Chiron had said. That was all we could do, and all we had done for a year now, ever since Kronos had become more than a creepy voice that occasionally haunted our nightmares and took the form of my older brother Luke.

At that thought, I flinched. Luke's betrayal still hurt, even though it had happened years ago. I thought that time would've softened the blow a little less, but it hadn't.

Even though I've tried to push it away and suppress it, there was still a darker part of me that sort of understood why Luke did what he did.

I understood that Luke resented our father for ignoring him his whole life—every demigod feels that way at some point in their life. I know I did. I understood Luke's need to prove himself to our father, because it was what I wanted to do too. And I knew that when he came back from his first quest and didn't get the recognition that he wanted, it hurt him, badly. It was what finally pushed him over the edge, what drove him to Kronos.

And the thing is, everyone saw it coming too. They just didn't want to admit it. I had lost count of how many times I had heard Luke curse the gods. All we did was warn him to stop or he would get sent to Hades the hard way.

One time, Luke had replied, "Oh, I'm not worried about Hades. There are other things that are stronger than him."

At the time, I had just thought that it was an empty threat, but now, whenever I look back on it, it sends shivers up my spine.

But I, like everyone else, had brushed it off like it was nothing. We had just laughed and rolled our eyes. We had seen his resentment as a mirror image of our own and thought it would just go away after time, but ignoring him only made it worse. He couldn't turned to us to vent his anger, so he turned to Kronos instead.

That's what I regret the most: not taking him seriously and doing something about it. What if I had? Would it have made a difference, or would he still have turned evil?

I've asked myself those questions more than once before. And I'll never get an answer.

I sighed, rolled over, and looked over at Connor. He was on his stomach, his loud snoring muffled by his pillow.

At least I hadn't lost him. But we were probably going to war soon, and there was still the possibility I could. I didn't know what I would do if I did. He was more than my brother—he was my best friend. I couldn't imagine a day without him.

That thought scared me more than anything.

I remembered last year, when Kronos had risen and the Labyrinth had opened. We had won, but not without a cost. Lee and Castor had been my friends.

How many more of my friends wouldn't survive? How many of us would come out of this thing alive? Would _any _of us survive? I didn't know. I didn't want to know.

Suddenly, I was angry at myself. I had been so worried about what was going on between me and Katie, I hadn't realized what was going on around me—how we were inching closer and closer to a war. I had wanted something to distract myself from her, and now I had it.

But I didn't want it anymore. Not at all.

I wished I could go back to five hours ago, where the biggest thing I had to worry about was how to get Katie to like me.

* * *

><p>Happy Holidays! I hope you had a merry Christmas and have a happy New Year!<p>

If you have time, please let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading!


	5. Silence and Misunderstandings

I am so, so sorry guys. My life has been giving me a lot of crap lately, and it just hasn't given me the time to write another chapter. I apologize to all of you that are reading this story. Hopefully, I can get back into the routine of writing again, permanently.

Thank you to the guest who reviewed. And I want to dedicate this chapter to ChocolateSodaPop because of your review. I know, I know I'm three months behind, and you probably speak for every reader, but I got your review two months late (No Internet access) and it kicked me back into gear. Thank you! :)

And fair warning, this chapter is mostly between the brothers, so no Tratie. Well, maybe a slight hint, but nothing but that.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan does. If I did, this pairing would be definitely be canon. :P

* * *

><p><span>Travis<span>

Like I said before, waiting for something sucks. Badly. It right up there on my personal "things I hate" list, somewhere between getting my arm set and sitting through an hour long school lecture. It makes everything feel slower, like time itself is working against you.

Oh, this is just too painful to watch," Connor muttered, letting his head fall into his hands.

I rolled my eyes. "Dude, I know. You said that two minutes ago. Saying it again isn't gonna make it any better."

Today was a free day without any classes, but because of our ongoing punishment Chiron had limited what we could do to almost nothing. So when Michael had asked us to watch his cabin practice sword fighting, we had agreed right away because it gave us something to do besides sit in our cabin all day.

So here we were, doing just that.

The only catch was that it was the _Apollo_ cabin—whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow—practicing _sword_ fighting, so yeah, it was pretty much like watching a bunch of kids poke at each other with very sharp toothpicks.

Just as I thought that I couldn't take any more, Michael made a signal to stop.

"Oh, thank the gods! I thought I was going to die from boredom," Connor muttered as he got up from where he was sitting on the bench beside me. I rolled my eyes, but I agreed with him whole-heartedly.

_Apparently, we're not the only ones,_ I thought, as I watched everyone else in the stands stand up and begin to walk out of the arena like someone had pulled the fire alarm. In under three minutes, everyone was gone except for me, Connor, and Michael.

Michael met us at the door, looking defeated. "Sorry guys, I thought—"

"Why did you make your cabin practice with swords when you know they're better with bows?" Connor interrupted. "I mean, you are a son of Apollo, so why even try using a—"

I elbowed Connor in the ribs, and was rewarded by a glare. I smiled apologetically at Michael. "I'm sorry, he's hungry. He doesn't have a filter right now."

He shook his head. "No, no I get it, I actually do have a reason for doing this," He paused, and then lowered his voice. "I was thinking that if they have to fight someone—or something—in close range combat, a bow won't work. And they likely won't have time to draw their weapons in time, and even if they do, it will be pointless if they don't know how to properly use them."

"Oh," I said lightly, my voice tight, because I _did_ understand him.

He was thinking about the safety of his brothers and sisters during the approaching war with the Titans. None of us wanted to think about it at all, or even admit that it was coming, but now it was impossible to ignore.

Typhon had grown a lot more powerful in the last year, and all the gods were now busy trying to fight him off. The thing is, while they were being distracted with Typhon, it left Kronos free to walk right into New York and take Olympus.

Chiron had realized this, so we had been planning an attack on Kronos's ship for the last few weeks, and Percy Jackson and Charles Beckendorf were in charge of detonating the bomb that would destroy it. It was a dangerous move, but it was the only way to postpone the war.

"Travis?" I blinked as Connor waved his hand in front of my face. "Travis, snap out of it! We need to go! It's lunchtime." He said, jerking his head towards the door.

As we followed the Apollo cabin up to the pavilion, I noticed that most of the other campers around me seemed…different. Usually they would be walking in groups, talking and laughing with their friends. Today, it was so quiet I could hear the crunching of the grass under my shoes. It had been that way for a while now, but it didn't mean I was used to it.

Farther down the hill, I noticed that there were large piles of swords and shields forming in front of the garden shed, which served a double purpose as our weapon room, kind of like the recreation room.

I smiled as I remembered when I had first realized that the "garden shed" was really the weapon shed, and made a joke about having a war against the tomato plants. I thought it was pretty funny, and so did Connor, but the Demeter cabin took it personally—We spent nearly a whole day tangled up in those tomato plants before Chiron found us.

They do _not_ like to joke around when it comes to the safety of their garden.

* * *

><p>**TCB**<p>

Lunch turned out to be more somber than the walk up here, if that was even possible.

I sat next to Connor in my usual spot, and for the first time since I came to camp half blood, I could actually hear the sound of silverware over the sound of people. No one spoke in voices louder than a whisper.

It wasn't the way camp was supposed to be, silent and tense like this. I was so used to the laughter and joking of my friends and siblings—of my family—that I had taken it for granted. There was nothing I wanted more now than to hear a joke or even witness a hint of a smile from one of them.

It was unnatural. Sometimes it felt like I had left and came back years later, only to fine that the place I knew was gone and had been replaced by something else.

"I hate to say this," Connor turned towards me. "But I can't wait until the meeting. It can't be any worse than this, right?"

I bit the inside of my cheek, thinking about the meeting that was going to be in a few days. Ever since that first one a little over two weeks ago, all the counselors had met in the rec room almost every night to go over battle plans. I dreaded every one of them, and they always left me with a sick feeling in my stomach.

Also, I just couldn't understand why Chiron would always schedule our meetings for _after_ we ate. I mean, what was he thinking? It's like saying, "Oh yeah, Kronos's army is growing more powerful by the day, we don't have any backup, and we are probably outnumbered a thousand to one, but try not to lose your dinner, alright?"

"Hey," Connor nudged my shoulder lightly, frowning. "Come back from dreamland for second. I was just kidding, you know that right? I know how much you hate those things."

"Nah, it's okay." I assured him with a shrug, even though that was far from the truth. He raised his eyebrows. There really was no fooling my brother. "I mean it. Really, it's fine."

"Okay, then. If you say so." He shot me a skeptical look.

I looked back down at my plate. Any appetite that I had or might have had was now completely gone. I stabbed halfheartedly at my chicken and bit into it. It tasted like sandpaper in my mouth, but I caught my brother looking at me and forced myself to swallow.

I didn't like this, I didn't like this at all. I hated feeling this way. Was this the punishment for wishing that I had something, anything to detract me from Katie? Was this what I deserved for trying to put off these thoughts for as long as possible, for trying to cover up the whole camp's growing unease with a few pranks, just like I had always done? Because it wasn't working this time.

It seemed like years until lunch ended, and when it did, I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

* * *

><p>**TCB**<p>

As soon as we got back to the cabin, I flung myself down on my bed and sighed.

Just like it had been for the last few weeks, the unwanted topic of war meetings came to my mind. I had no idea what the next one was going to be about, and I didn't really want to know. But then again, maybe part of me did, so it wouldn't be a nasty surprise again.

The cabin flung open and slammed shut, breaking my train of thought.

"You could have at least waited for me," Connor grumbled.

"It was torture!" I propped myself up on an elbow and glanced over at my brother, who was leaning on a bunk bed post across from my own. He did _not_ look happy. "I can't stand silence, and you know that!"

"Yet you can sit by yourself and wallow in your own self-pity and depression," He deadpanned, crossing his arms in a way that meant he meant business.

I sat up completely and glared at him. _"What?"_

"You heard me," He challenged, pushing away from the bed and stepped towards me. "Look, I _know_ you're worried about the war, and so am I, and so is everyone else! So don't act like you're the only one effected by this!"

"I know that," I told him, swinging my legs off the bed and standing up so quick that my knees cracked painfully. "But what else am I supposed to do?"

My brother looked down at his shoes and answered quietly, "Just don't think about it that much."

I stared at him like he had grown a second head. "How can I _not_ think about it?" I asked in disbelief. He had to be kidding! This was a possible war that we were talking about!

"I don't know," He held up his hands. "Just don't think about it. You get this serious look on your face when you think about something too hard, and you get all quiet. It's weird. It's weird to see you that way. Besides, thinking makes your head hurt."

I continued to stare at him. "'_Thinking makes your head hurt'_? Where did you get that from?"

"Well, it does. You know, when you're thinking about too many things at one time, and they just become a big blur?" To emphasize his point, Connor made a wide hand motion through the air. "And then you get a super painful headache later when—"

I snorted as I remembered something. "Isn't that the same excuse you used when Ms. Heltings asked you why you never took notes in class?"

"Yeah, it is," He smirked. "But she didn't believe me, even though it was true."

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe she would have believed you, if you hadn't used that same excuse every single time she asked you why you hadn't done your work. Other than that, it was a perfect excuse."

He huffed indignantly. "You know what—oh, never mind. This is what I'm talking about." He gestured between me and him. "I like it when we're joking around with each other like this, when everything is light and easy. Not when you're thinking about something, and you're not talking, and I'm just stuck sitting there wanting to know what you're thinking about.

"Like you said, you hate the quiet, so when you started becoming quiet yourself, I thought maybe it was because of everything that happened with Katie, or-or something else, and then I realized exactly what it was." Connor had said all of this in one breath, like he couldn't get it out fast enough. "Ever since Chiron told us about…" He trailed off, but I knew exactly what he meant.

"Yeah well, I've been thinking about the war lately. It seems rude to try and forget what's happening, you know?" I tried to explain, my anger now gone. "If I act like everything is fine, it makes me feel like it's unimportant. It's impossible for me to act carefree right now, without thinking that I'm—I don't know—disrespectful?" The last part turned into a question as I tried to put my thoughts into words.

It was frustrating, like I could _see _my thoughts and what I was trying to say, but I just couldn't _touch _them. No matter how many times I grabbed for them, they were just out of reach.

To my relief, Connor nodded his head in understanding. "I get that, but thinking about it won't help."

My anger was now back full force, forming a heavy, boiling weight in the pit of my stomach. I had just explained it to him! He _really _wasn't helping. "If I don't, I'll be unprepared for when we actually go to war. This is serious Connor!" My voice rose, making the Athena kids walking nearby outside the cabin window turn around and stare at us.

"_What?_" I glared them. "What are _you_ looking at?" They stared back startled, and hurriedly walked away, shooting me dirty looks at they went. I walked up to the window and slammed it, making it shake so hard that I thought it was going to shatter, but I didn't care. I ripped the curtains closed.

Taking a deep breath, I turned back to Connor. "You're not taking this seriously! We are going to war! Don't you know what that means?! Don't you remember what happened just last year? Don't you remember Lee and Castor, or are they not important enough for you to think about?!" I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth. I dropped my eyes from my brother's.

Connor was silent for a long time. That's what scared me the most: his silence. I knew I had just said something I should have never said, crossed a line I should have never even touched. When I finally looked up again, I recoiled from the venomous look of hatred on my brother's face. He had never looked at me like that. Ever.

"How _dare _you!" Connor hissed, and his voice broke. I was shocked to notice the tears now forming in his eyes. I had made my brother cry. My best friend. "You don't think I _care_?! You don't think I've thought about that? You think you're the only one who was effected by—by what happened to them…" Connor broke off, shaking from rage or sobs, I don't know which.

"Connor, I—" I walked over to him and reach out to touch his arm, but he pulled away from me like my hand was fire.

"You think I'm that much of a jerk to not care?! Do you really think that?" Connor asked. "Do you want to why I don't think about it all the time? 'Cause it hurts too much to think about it, to think about our friends dying and what Luke did…" He trailed off, sitting down on his own bed, and bowing his head.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I really didn't." I sat next to him and tried again to console him, but he stood up as I tried to put my arm across his shoulders and walked towards the door.

Just as he was about to turn the knob, he wheeled around and walked back, stopping inches from where I was sitting. His eyes were red and puffy from unshed tears, but when he spoke, his voice was steady. "You want to know why I told you to stop thinking about the war? Not because I don't care, but because I _do_ care. I was trying to _help_ you. I knew thinking about it would just stress you out, so I told you not to. Just like with Katie. I'm trying to help you avoid that until you really have to."

I flinched. I had misread him completely. "I didn't know. I'm so sorry." I whispered, but Connor wasn't finished.

He tilted his head mockingly and continued. "_So_ sorry for caring about my brother's feelings. Don't worry, I'll try not to anymore." With that, he turned around and stalked towards the door again.

Just as he opened it, I finally found my voice. "Connor—wait!"

He stopped, halfway out the door. He didn't even turn around as he hissed under his breath. "Jerk."

With that, he slammed the door behind him, the sound echoing in the silence of the empty cabin.

* * *

><p>A tab bit angsty for me, but I thought this would be necessary to transition to the next chapter. I hope that you liked it! Thank you! :)<p> 


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